Heel stripping means

ABSTRACT

An improved anvil for use in a device used to strip or remove heels from shoes in preparation for placing a new heel thereon, the anvil having slots which receive reciprocating stripping blades and having one end of such slots closed by portions of a relatively narrow web forming a continuous surface for supporting the breast of a heel being stripped, such web having a thickness which corresponds to the minimum heel base thickness that is to be left unstripped. Preferably, the side face of this web is concavely formed to correspond generally with the configuration of a sole shank, and the top face of the web is formed convexly to correspond generally with the configuration at the breast of the heel being stripped.

ilnite Padovani et a1.

[54] HEEL STRIPPING MEANS [72] Inventors: Henry R. Padovani, Austell; John G.

Wright, Atlanta, both of Ga.

[73] Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence, R.I.

[22] Filed: Dec. 11, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 97,143

[52] US. Cl ..l2/50.5 [51] Int. Cl. A43d 115/00 [58] Field of Search .12/50.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,665 12/1921 Berger ..12/50.5 3,044,084 7/1962 Wright ..12/50.5

[45] Apr. 4, 3972 M. Pinckney and Richards & Shefte [57] ABSTRACT An improved anvil for use in a device used to strip or remove heels from shoes in preparation for placing a new heel thereon, the anvil having slots which receive reciprocating stripping blades and having one end of such slots closed by portions of a relatively narrow web forming a continuous surface for supporting the breast of a heel being stripped, such web having a thickness which corresponds to the minimum heel base thickness that is to be left unstripped. Preferably, the side face of this web is concavely formed to correspond generally with the configuration of a sole shank, and the top face of the web is formed convexly to correspond generally with the configuration at the breast of the heel being stripped.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED PR 41972 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTORS HENRY R. PADOVAM 6 BY JOHN G. wmsm' ATTORNEYS HEEL STRIPPING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved anvil used in a heel stripping device such as that disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,044,084, issued July I7, 1962, which is employed by shoe repairmen to remove worn heels from mens shoes with exceptional ease. This heel stripping device includes a plurality of stripping blades reciprocated vertically as a unit by an actuating mechanism, and an anvil formed with slots to receive the stripping blades. A shoe is positioned to interpose the heel thereof between the stripping blades and the anvil with the heel supported at an edge of the latter, and progressive downward movement of the stripping blades separates a major portion of the heel from the shoe.

The anvil disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,084 is formed with the blade receiving slots extending inwardly from the front face of the anvil, and, while entirely satisfactory stripping results are obtained with this construction, it has been found that the pressure exerted by the stripping blades against the heel portion supported at the front edge of the anvil has a tendency to mar the supported heel breast, particularly when the heel base portion being left unstripped is relatively thin.

In accordance with the present invention, an anvil is provided which eliminates any tendency of heel marring, and which is formed to receive the shoe and heel in complimentary fashion at the supporting edge of the anvil.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The anvil of the present invention includes slots for receiving the stripping blades as previously described, and these slots extend adjacent an edge of the anvil at which the adjacent slot ends are closed by portions of a relatively narrow web that forms a continuous support surface for the breast ofa heel being stripped. Since it is usually desirable to leave a narrow portion of the heel attached to the shoe whereby the replacement heel can be attached directly to this remaining portion, the heel supporting web of the present invention is utilized to determine the thickness of the unstripped heel portion, and it is formed with a thickness corresponding to the minimum heel base thickness that is practical to leave-unstripped.

Additionally, the side face of the web at which the shoe is supported is formed with a concave configuration correspondin g generally to configuration of the shank of the shoe sole adjacent the breast of heel, and the top face ofthis web is formed with a convex configuration corresponding generally with the configuration at the breast of the heel. With the anvil web formed in this manner, the shoe is supported at the anvil web with the entire area at the base of the heel breast supported by the top face of the web in a complimentary relation thereto whereby the force imposed on the heel by the stripping blades acting thereagainst will be evenly distributed over the supported area of the heel breast.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary detail in perspective illustrating a heel being stripped from a shoe by a heel stripping device embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the stripping anvil;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the stripping anvil illustrated in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a section view taken at line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Looking now in greater detail at the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the heel stripping portion of a device like that described in detail in the aforementioned US Pat. No. 3,044,084. An anvil structure is provided with a pair ofslide bearings 12 in which are mounted a pair of slide rods 14 connected at the tops thereof by a crosshead 16 carrying a plurality of stripping blades 18 in spaced parallel relation. The anvil structure 10 is mounted to a supporting frame (not shown), and the slide rods 14 are reciprocated vertically by a suitable actuating arrange ment such as that disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat, No. 3,044,084. For the purpose of understanding the present invention, it is sufficient to note that the slide rods 14 are initially held at a raised position with the stripping blades 18 spaced above the anvil l0, and, after a shoe 5 is positioned with the heel H thereof interposed between the top surface of the anvil 10 and lower points of the stripping blades 18, the slide rods 14 are pulled downwardly in progressive increments to close the stripping blades 18 on the anvil l0 and thereby pry a portion of the heel H off of the shoe S as seen in FIG. 1, the lower portions of the stripping blades 18 being received in aligned slots 20 formed in the anvil 10 when the stripping operation is completed.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the anvil 10 is provided with a substantial opening 22 through which stripped heels may fall into a scrap bin (not shown), and it is formed with the previously mentioned slots 20 extending adjacent the forward edge of the anvil 10, these slots being closed at the forward ends thereof by portions of a relatively narrow web 24 which forms a continuous support at the forward edge of the anvil 10.

The structural details of the web 24 are best described in connection with a general description of the heel stripping operation itself. Looking then at FIG. 1, it will be observed that the shoe S is supported during the heel stripping operation at the anvil 10 with the breast of the heel H contiguous with the top face 26 of the web 24 and with the shank of the sole of shoe S contiguous with the side face 28 of the web 24. The breast of the heel H has a concave configuration common to all mens shoes, and the web top face 26 of the present invention is convexly formed in general complimentary correspondence with the configuration of the heel breast so that the surface of the latter will be substantially evenly supported along the entire extent thereof. In addition, the side face 28 of the web 24 is concavely formed in general complimentary correspondence with the convex configuration normally found at the sole shank portion adjacent the heel H so that the edge formed by the top face 26 and the side face 28 will coincide with the line of intersection between the sole of shoe S and the heel H, and the base of the heel breast will thereby be in complete supporting contact with the top face 26 of the web 24. It is not possible, of course, to form the top face 26 and the side face 28 with configurations that will exactly compliment the heel breats and sole shank, respectively, of all shoes, and a general correspondence between the contiguous surfaces is all that is necessary to support the shoe S properly. It has been determined that a nice supporting correspondence will be obtained by forming the concavity of the side face 28 with a radius of curvatures of l 1 inches and forming the convexity of the top face 26 with a radius of curvature of 6 inches.

When the shoe S and heel H are supported in the above described manner by the anvil 10, it will be noted that the base of the heel breast is supported at the smooth and continuous top web face 26 so that the downwardly moving stripping blades 18 do not press the heel H against any edges which might mar the unstripped heel portion. Moreover, since the stripping blades 18 are aligned with the anvil slots 20, the thickness of the top web face 26 will determine the thickness of the unstripped heel portion when the stripping operation has been completed. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the thickness of the web 24 at the top face 26 thereof is selected to correspond to the minimum heel base thickness that is practical to leave unstripped while still providing a remaining heel portion sufficient to receive fasteners used to secure the replacement heel in place thereat. This unstripped heel portion is clearly shown in FIG. 1 and identified by the reference character U. This thin unstripped portion U bears most of the downward force of the stripping blades 18, and this concentration of force tends to mar the breast of heel portion U as previously mentioned. However,

the uniquely formed anvil of the present invention results in a substantially even distribution of this force over the entire breast of heel portion U to preclude the likelihood of marring thereat.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this discription or otherwise to exclude any variation or equivalent arrangement that would be apparent from, or reasonably suggested by, the foregoing disclosure to the skill of the art.

I claim:

1. In a heel stripping device incorporating a slotted anvil and a plurality of stripping blades reciprocable as a unit in alignment with the slots of said anvil to strip a desired portion from a heel supported on the anvil at a position for such stripping, the improvement comprising an anvil having the slots therein extending adjacent an edge thereof at which the adjacent slot ends are closed by portions of a relatively narrow web forming said anvil edge to provide a continuous support at the breast of a heel being stripped.

2. In a heel stripping device, the improvement defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that the side face of said web is concavely formed in general complimentary correspondance with the configuration of a sole shank, and in that the top face at said web is convexly formed in general complimentary correspondence with the configuration at the breast of a heel base.

3. In a heel stripping device, the improvement defined in claim I and further characterized in that the thickness of said relatively narrow web at said top face thereof corresponds to the minimum heei base thickness that is practical to leave un stripped.

k k l 

1. In a heel stripping device incorporating a slotted anvil and a plurality of stripping blades reciprocable as a unit in alignment with the slots of said anvil to strip a desired portion from a heel supported on the anvil at a position for such stripping, the improvement comprising an anvil having the slots therein extending adjacent an edge thereof at which the adjacent slot ends are closed by portions of a relatively narrow web forming said anvil edge to provide a continuous support at the breast of a heel being stripped.
 2. In a heel stripping device, the improvement defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that the side face of said web is concavely formed in general complimentary correspondence with the configuration of a sole shank, and in that the top face at said web is convexly formed in general complimentary correspondence with the configuration at the breast of a heel base.
 3. In a heel stripping device, the improvement defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that the thickness of said relatively narrow web at said top face thereof corresponds to the minimum heel base thickness that is practical to leave unstripped. 